THE Sandiganbayan has thrown out a motion filed by a former vice president of a government-owned bank seeking a reopening of trial in her graft case after she was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment on January 20, 2023.
Rosemarie Villamora, former Philippine Postal Savings Bank vice president, South Luzon Area Head, and Naga City branch head was found guilty of approving excessive interests on the deposits of two clients totaling P39.05 million over four years.
Aside from jail time, she was also barred from holding any other government post and ordered to pay Postal Bank (now Overseas Filipino Bank Inc.) P39.05 million as indemnity.
In a resolution dated March 24, 2023 penned by Associate Justice Arthur O. Malabaguio, the Sandiganbayan Second Division denied Villamora’s request for a new trial as well as her appeal for the reversal of her conviction.
It held that the former state bank executive failed to raise any valid ground in support of her motion but merely submitted the same arguments that had already been considered by the court before finding her guilty of the criminal offense.
“We find that the arguments relied upon by the accused in her motion have already been exhaustively considered and passed upon in the assailed decision,” the Sandiganbayan said.
Associate Justices Oscar C. Herrera Jr. and Edgardo M. Caldona concurred.
Villamora and her lawyer had tried to quash a copy of her signed sworn statement dated October 25, 2017 wherein she admitted that she offered depositors Noel Antonio and Daughters of Mary three percent monthly interest if they agreed to put their money on a Premium Savings Plan.
Auditors said the two depositors earned yearly interests of 24 to 30 percent compared to the standard 0.25 percent annual interest that the bank was officially offering.
In the same statement, Villamora admitted deliberately attempting to conceal the interest payout by tampering with the PPSB Naga branch’s core deposit system and ignoring notices from internal auditors asking her to explain the discrepancy in the bank’s balance.
In her motion, Villamora claimed she did not come up with the said admissions voluntarily but that she was coerced into signing it.
Likewise, she challenged the court’s jurisdiction anew, saying the Postal Bank does not have its own charter hence the case should not have gone to the Sandiganbayan but to a local court.
The court, however, noted that the defendant’s challenge on the admissibility of evidence is an improper basis for seeking a new trial.
